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Space buffs get to watch Comet ISON’s close shave with the sun today, courtesy of one of NASA’s space-based solar monitoring observatory.

The day of reckoning has finally arrived for Comet ISON, as it slingshots around the sun and we find out whether it survives roasting.

Comet ISON today reaches its closest point of approach to the sun, its “perihelion,” at around 1:44 pm EST (18:44 GMT) today. The frozen snowball from the solar system’s outer reaches will pass within 724,000 miles (1.65 million kilometers) of the sun’s fiery surface.

While the comet is now lost in the glare of the sun, making it dangerous to watch as it makes its hairpin turn around the sun in the sky, the cosmic spectacle can be safely enjoyed online courtesy of high-resolution, near-live views from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

From 1 pm to 3:30 pm EST Thursday join solar scientists on a Google+ Hangout and follow the journey of Comet ISON as it whips around the sun.

The comet has grown more than ten times brighter in recent days. As it plunges through the sun’s outer atmosphere, the comet’s icy nucleus will begin to experience intense gravitational forces and temperatures that reach as high as 5000 degrees Fahrenheit (2760 degrees Celsius). Check out this amazing animation from NASA’s SOHO spacecraft showing the comet only 2 hours before its closest approach to the sun.

No one knows if the comet will remain intact under these hellish conditions—but sky watchers hope that it emerges as a bright comet in the morning sky in early December.

Stay tuned for more updates post-perihelion.

Update: Astronomers continued looking for Comet ISON late in the day on Thursday but NASA released a statement around 6:00 pm EST suggesting that the comet has likely fizzled, burning up on its close approach to the sun.

Update # 2: Back from the Brink? As of 9 pm EST latest images beamed back from NASA’s SOHO satellite (see below) clearly shows that Comet ISON – or remnants of- have against all odds survived its trip around the sun. Could it be that all that remains is a fragment of the nucleus or is it a headless comet now? Talk about a zombie comet! Next 24 hours will tell the story.

NASA’s SOHO satellite captures ISON as it plunges towards the sun and re-emerges on the other side on November 28. Credit: NASA

Update # 3: As of 1 pm EST, November 29th, Comet ISON appears to have returned from the dead and is brightening again according to new images beamed back from NASA’s SOHO satellite. Scientists believe the comet’s nucleus began to fall apart as it skirted the sun but enough of it has apparently survived so that it’s emitting dust and gas that is forming a tail once again as its pulling away from the sun.

ISON appears as a white smear heading up and away from the sun. ISON was not visible during its closest approach to the sun, so many scientists thought it had disintegrated, but images like this one from the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory suggest that a small nucleus may be intact. Credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO/GSFC

Expert astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi has edited an HD video from NASA satellite imagery that shows ISON’s hair-raising solar encounter. He predicts there still may be a sky show of some sort still possible.

“It seems the comet could become a naked eye object with several degrees of scattered tail by Dec 2nd or 3rd,” Tafreshi said in an email.

“It’s not the comet of the century for sure, and fainter than the Lovejoy sungrazer in Dec. 2011, but an interesting imaging target is just a few nights away!”

Not to worry, BeachN, the path may look like it’s intersecting from overhead, but it’s only a matter of perspective (good thing space is 3D). If you look at the same animated graphic, you’ll notice that the side view is synched in time with the overhead view. From that side view, you’ll notice how the trajectory of what’s left of ISON will be heading far above the planet’s orbit, about 15º off the plane of the solar horizon on Dec 30 (measured from the solar center), with the Earth’s orbit essentially in line with the Z-axis at 0º. Similarly, you’ll notice that it appears as though the paths intersect on ISON’s approach in the side-view, however, you’ll notice that the Earth is still about 50º off to the left of it’s trajectory when it passed along the the Earth’s orbital track on Nov 1. If we view things from a different angle, it would paint a completely different picture and you’d wouldn’t think twice about it.

Simply put, the comet’s remains are projected to be off 40 million miles at it’s closest point to earth (which will actually be on Dec 26). In any case, that’s a pretty wide berth.

Chinwi

Sri Lanka

November 30, 2013, 8:14 pm

The comet was halfway gone at perihelion due to solar winds and survived to reappear passing the Sun. Then yesterday it faced huge stream of solar wind and now the particles in the nucleus are completely washed away . Now it is in out memories.

Chasmosaurus

November 30, 2013, 4:20 pm

: ) It’s not hitting us – It’s passing straight north of us (by millions of miles). Look at the next graphic down on the stereo-ssc site.

Amendment to my earlier comment: i saw what i believe was the comet on Thursday night, November 23, 2013.

Charlotte Armster

Quemado, New Mexico

November 30, 2013, 1:40 am

I believe i saw the comet – was the brightest thing i have ever seen in the sky. Night was clear, it was about 9:00 pm mountain time, and one hour later it was very low on the horizon, but it could still be seen for a little while, then it disappeared. Was it Ison? What else?

Gokul

India

November 29, 2013, 10:43 pm

Watch out for Dec/12/2013. 13 days left for a new beginning!

Rajesh kumar Pankaj

India

November 29, 2013, 6:07 pm

Is there any chance it hits earth?

Marietta Alexander

United States

November 29, 2013, 5:36 pm

This comet is unique; many prophecies suggest it has a destiny beyond the natural; it defies death like the Son of God Himself, it will come into the vicinity of Earth to be the cause of many events and in the end; finish with the Rapture of the true Bride of Christ.

MICHAEL CARUANA

MALTA EUROPE

November 29, 2013, 4:24 pm

THE IRONY OF THE UNIVERSE FIRE AND ICE,, MY QUESTION ALWAYS WAS : HOW COME THE UNIVERSE IS SUPER FROZEN YET IT’S FULL WITH SUPER HEATED GALAXIES,STARS AND COLOSSAL EXPLOSIONS ( 2)WILL THE FIERY MANTLE BURIED UNDER THE WORLD’S CRUST EVER STOP BURNING?

tali

Netherlands

November 29, 2013, 3:31 pm

SOHO is not a NASA spacecraft. Get your facts right.

nunnbtr

California

November 29, 2013, 3:21 pm

Guys the comet will not appear as a flash or shooting star…if one sees it in the next few days it will appear stationary to us and only move across the visible night sky day to day, week to week

Ann Graham

Lanarkshire Scotland

November 29, 2013, 2:07 pm

I am positive i saw part of the comet (it had a white blob followed by a tail) near the horizon to the south east of where i live, at just after 8am Friday 29th british time. it came in from the right in a straight line then looked like it fell through the clouds.Could I have seen part of Ison or was it my imagination.

We observed a comet like flash in our sky last night around 10:00 PM, very large and bright visible for approx. two seconds, much bigger and brighter than shooting star. Could this have been ISON or remains of?

Mohamed Ehab

Alexandria

November 29, 2013, 9:19 am

will the comet be destroyed by 28th Nov. when it is close to the sun or not

Randy

San Diego

November 29, 2013, 5:11 am

Worked for HUGHES AND RAYTHEON. Today we have such great cameras to capture wonderful images.. I remember telstar and so many of the others with crappy resolution. We build galileo and many others and each generation getting better.

mathew ainea tarimo

igurusi mbeya - tanzania east africa

November 29, 2013, 1:33 am

i like it. fantastic and very educative. suppose it might not happen the NASA thinks… only that we should not set aside the truth of GOD.

mathew tarimo

igurusi mbeya, east africa

November 29, 2013, 1:29 am

one of the most wonders of the world. let us see. bravo NASA.. we like your work a lot. let it be not the symptoms of the end of the world… sincerely

mathew tarimo

mbeya tanzania

November 29, 2013, 1:25 am

yes, one of the worlds adventures.

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